“There is no CEO that I’m aware of” who could possibly know about every decision lower-level employees make. They rely on the advice of lawyers, bankers, and accountants. “Now, there may be some superman somewhere that thinks they know everything going on in their company in every department, in every level, in every country, and every employee. But I think that would be very unrealistic.”
Top corporate executives would continue to make versions of this argument for the next decade, especially in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Ignorance equaled innocent. Lay’s defense might have worked if prosecutors had charged him with masterminding Enron’s accounting frauds. But they were too smart and built a different case.